How To: Adjust subtrack delay in VLC media player

VLC (VideoLAN Client) media player is the best media player available. Although the default skin (GUI) is not so great, sparing that no other media player is even close to the number of features that VLC provides. Especially when it comes to dealing with corrupt files and any kind of discrepancies with VLC they could be sorted out in a jiffy.

Ever had a media file whose audio and video are desynchronized and didn't know what to do, well one option would be to open the media file in VLC and set 'Audio desynchronization compensation' in ' Settings -> preferences.. -> Audio '. Do check the 'Advanced Options' to list this feature. Play around with various numbers in this field to set optimal synchronization for that file.

Of the many other invaluable features of VLC, adjusting subtitles track delay is a great one. Since many of '.srt'(subtitles) files rely primarily upon the time it is not so uncommon that many a times either the video is lagging the subtitles are vice versa.

One way to rectify is to modify the entire '.srt' file time fields to be synchronized with the video. For example if you find a 10 second delay between the subtitles and the video, add every 'time' field in the '.srt' file 10 seconds. This is not a practical option as a 90 minute video usually has around 2000 entries relating to the timing of a particular subtitle.

The best way to solve this problem is to use VLC. I had to do a little research on this feature because there is no apparent field in the 'settings -> preferences..' box to set the value of the amount of delay.

In VLC, subtitle track delay is adjusted when the video is in progress. The only way i found so far is to use 'HOTKEYS' (which can be configured in ' Settings -> preferences.. -> Interface -> Hotkey Settings [do remeber to check 'Advanced options']).

While the video is in progress use the key combination 'ctrl + j' to decrease the delay of subtitles and use 'ctrl + h' to increase the delay. For every keystroke a 50 millisecond delay is added (or subtracted accordingly).

These are the default key combinations in VLC 0.8.4 (windows version). you can always configure these keys to suit your needs using the HOTKEY configuration menu provided above.

If you are not using VLC already grab one from here

VLC rox !
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Life is Beautiful !

Google Reader is CASE SENSITIVE

I have been using Google Reader for a while now (around 6 months) and i really enjoy all its cool features. Although i haven't used much of other RSS readers, i think so far this is the best in the market. With there latest interface introduced about a month ago, it became a lot cooler.

One thing i like most about this reader is the 'shortcut key' feature inbuilt in it. Given the amount of RSS feeds i read, it would come as no surprise that i could find the keys 'j' (selects the next item in the list), 'k' (selects the previous item in the list) and 'v' (opens the original source for this article in a new window) even in pitch black darkness.

Initially i had a lot of trouble using this feature. It used to work sometimes and other times it just wouldn't (how hard ever i try to hit my keyboard). I thought it must be some kind of bug that 'Google' is trying to rectify.

One day as usual when i was in the middle of reading feeds all of a sudden 'Google reader' stopped responding to my keyboard strokes. I had to pick up my mouse for the rest of the session. After a while i fired up 'notepad' to make a quick note when i found that output was UPPER CASE. i noticed that i accidentally toggled 'CAPS LOCK'. It then flashed to me that it might not be because of a bug that 'Google reader' stopped responding to shortcut keys. I opened 'Google Reader' again and this time with CAPS off, i was able to use my favorite keys 'jvk' and when i turned CAPS on i could see that the old bug (which i learned isn't) surfaced and 'Google reader' failed to recognize keyboard keys. when i changed the CAPS state to off again everything was back to normal.

From the above observations i inferred that 'Google Reader' is CASE SENSITIVE. so next time when you find 'Google Reader' failing to respond to your shortcut keys check the status of CAPS before proceeding to reload 'Google Reader' or close 'Firefox' and restart it.

Hope i have saved many Firefox restarts and mouse clicks on refresh buttons with this information.

PS: For a list of other shortcut keys of 'Google Reader' visit :list of Google Reader Shortcut keys

Google rox !
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Life is Beautiful !